Galatians 2:17

Galatians 2:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
• New International Version (NIV)“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
• New King James Version (NKJV)“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!

Context of Galatians 2:17

15We were born as Jewish people. We are not Gentiles who have never obeyed God's rules. 16But we know that we do not become right with God because we obey his Law. A person only becomes right with God when they believe in Jesus Christ. And we, as Jewish believers, have believed in Christ Jesus. We have become right with God because we trust in what Christ has done. It is not because we obey God's Law that he accepts us. Nobody becomes right with God only because they obey the rules in God's Law. So then, we Jews become right with God when we believe in Christ. That means that we no longer obey all the Jewish rules. But that does not mean that Christ causes us to do wrong things. Certainly, it does not mean that! 18Instead, I would really be doing something wrong if I tried to obey all those rules again. I would be building again something that I had destroyed. That would really be against God's Law. 19But God's Law showed me that I could never obey all its rules. So I became like a dead person, free from the authority of those rules. That means that I can now live to please God.

Galatians 2:17 word by word

εἰ δὲ ζητοῦντες δικαιωθῆναι ἐν Χριστῷ εὑρέθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἁμαρτωλοί, ἆρα Χριστὸς ἁμαρτίας διάκονος; μὴ γένοιτο.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• while we seekζητέωzēteō · to seekG2212
• to be justifiedδικαιόωdikaioō · to justifyG1344
• byἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• we ourselvesαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• are foundεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• sinnersἁμαρτωλόςhamartōlos · sinfulG268
• thereforeἆραara · no?G687
• the ministerδιάκονοςdiakonos · servantG1249
• of sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• God forbidμήmē · notG3361
• God forbidγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096

Cross-references for Galatians 2:17

• Romans 9:30So, we must think about what all this means. The Gentiles were not trying to become right with God. But some of them have now become right with him. God has accepted them as right, because they have believed in Jesus Christ.
• Romans 11:7So we can say this: Israel's people did not all find what they were looking for. Only those people that God had chosen received it. But the other people of Israel became unable to understand God's message.
• Galatians 2:11But later, when Peter came to Antioch, I spoke against him. I told him clearly that he had done something wrong.
• Romans 6:1Someone might say, ‘Perhaps we should continue to do wrong things. Then God can be kind to us in more and more ways.’
• 1 John 3:8People who continue to do wrong things show that they belong to the Devil. The Devil has always been doing wrong things from the beginning. This is why the Son of God came to the world. He came to destroy everything that the Devil has done.
• Matthew 1:21Mary's baby will be a boy. He will save his people from their sins. Because of that, you must give him the name “Jesus”.’
• Romans 15:8Remember this: Christ became a servant of the Jews so that they could understand God's true message. He showed them that God has now done what he promised to their ancestors.
• 2 Corinthians 3:7Moses wrote the words of the old agreement on pieces of stone. It showed how great and powerful God was. Moses' face shone brightly after God spoke to him. It did not stay bright, but the Israelite people still could not look at Moses' face. The old agreement that brought death was powerful.
• Hebrews 7:24But Jesus lives for ever, so he will never stop being a priest.
• Hebrews 8:2He serves as priest in heaven on our behalf. He is in God's very special place, near to God himself. That is like the special place in the tabernacle of long ago. But it is not a tent that people have made. The Lord himself has made this special place, and it is the true one.
• 1 John 3:5You know that Jesus came into the world so that he might take away our sins. He himself is completely clean from sin.
• Romans 3:4No, certainly it does not mean that! God will always do what he says. He will always say what is true, even if everyone in the world should tell lies. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘Your message is true. It shows that you are right. People may say that you are wrong. But it will always be clear that you are right.’

Commentaries on Galatians 2:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17But if while we seek to be justified - If, while we acknowledge that we must be justified by faith in Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, enjoining the necessity of observing the rites and ceremonies of the law, which never could and never can justify, and yet, by submitting to circumcision, we lay ourselves under the necessity of fulfilling the law, which is impossible, we thus constitute ourselves sinners; is, therefore, Christ the minister of sin?…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ - The connection here is not very clear, and the sense of the verse is somewhat obscure. Rosenmuller supposes that this is an objection of a Jew, supposing that where the Law of Moses is not observed there is no rule of life, and that therefore there must be sin; and that since the doctrine of justification by faith taught that there was no necessity of obeying the ceremonial law of Moses, therefore Christ…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-19Verses 15-19 Paul, having thus shown he was not inferior to any apostle, not to Peter himself, speaks of the great foundation doctrine of the gospel. For what did we believe in Christ? Was it not that we might be justified by the faith of Christ? If so, is it not foolish to go back to the law, and to expect to be justified by the merit of moral works, or sacrifices, or ceremonies? The occasion of this declaration doubtless arose from the ceremonial law…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-21Some false teachers were spreading false ideas about Paul's good news. They likely argued that if people did not have to follow the Jewish laws, they would just do whatever sinful things they wanted. Jesus would then be seen as leading people into sin (2:17). Paul explains how this is not true. Those who trust in Jesus receive strength from the Holy Spirit to live holy lives that honor God (see 5:13–26).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Greek, "But if, seeking to be justified IN (that is, in believing union with) Christ (who has in the Gospel theory fulfilled the law for us), we (you and I) ourselves also were found (in your and my former communion with Gentiles) sinners (such as from the Jewish standpoint that now we resume, we should be regarded, since we have cast aside the law, thus having put ourselves in the same category as the Gentiles, who, being without the law, are, in the…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 2:17

• Holiness
• Justification

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• God
• Christ, Messiah
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
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Commentaries on Galatians 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings